you can't get a good milk shake anymore?
Seriously. You ever order a milkshake at a fast food restaurant? It's soggy before they put it in your hand. I always ask for a spoon when I order a milk shake, because I don't like to have to work at trying to get it through a straw. The typical fast food shake today does not pass this simple test. Requiring a spoon to eat it. Pretty much the entire thing could be poured through the straw into the trash, and at least then you'd get the enjoyment of trying to accomplish this task without gooing up their floor any more than it already is.
And when you do find a decent shake (see my earlier entry about Edie's Diner), it costs you five bucks or so. Now I don't really remember if I got a shake at Edie's (I don't think so), but I did get a couple of real shakes at other similar diners and they were very proud of them. Very proud of them indeed. I could get a half gallon of Breyers for what they're selling these things for. Okay... so the Breyers would have to be on sale, but I mean... five bucks?
You know what else I don't like? My chest hair is going gray in a big way.
I was shaving this morning, and a big ol' glop of shaving cream slid off of my chin, down my chest and landed on my bare left foot. As if that wasn't humiliating enough (I often have large audiences watching me shave in my hotel room whilst traveling (Shhhh... don't tell Theresa)), as I wiped away the remains, I noticed that much of the hair on my chest was white. When the hell did that happen?
The tough part is, it seems to be working its' way down. It's all white near my throat, regains its' magnificent darkness around my ribcage, and remains so along that path. I don't have to paint a picture here for you do I? Good.
But all of this does not bode well for the future. I mean, who wants to be seen with a guy that has grey chest hair. I thought not.
I know... waxing! (I didn't see "The 40 year old virgin", but you all know what I'm talking about, right?) Yeah... that's the ticket. Only one problem... once you start, where do you stop?
Oh yeah... a mileage update. 17 days from pickup, and I've got 2,269 miles on the clock. Just got to Seattle area today, home tomorrow night for the week, then off to Utah. That should be a pretty drive.
Monday, August 28, 2006
Sunday, August 27, 2006
Gone racin'
Well... watching anyway.
This weekend I couldn't make it home because of the long drive that I needed to make. Well... I could have, but I would have had to fly home Friday night, get home after everyone was asleep, and fly back on Saturday evening to make a 9 hour drive on Sunday. So I elected to not go home this weekend. But... I will be getting home on Tuesday, and will be home the rest of the week before I fly out on Sunday to resume my training. More about that another day.
Friday, after work I drove from the Sacramento area to Medford, Oregon. Then on Saturday drove from Medford to just south of Portland. If you've not driven in this part of the country, you really need to. The pine trees are so thick that they are layered in front of each other like sardines in a can. Except that they are much nicer to look at. And probably smell better too. San Diego weather may be among the most welcoming to guests, but the lack of rain doesn't let it approach the abundant conifer production of the great Northwest.
Had dinner with Mark on Saturday night. He's the guy that hires me for these programs. We determined that we've known each other about fifteen years. And we still speak to each other! In setting up the dinner engagement, I learned that Mark was racing this weekend at Portland International Raceway with his brother-in-law Todd (who I just worked with on the Nissan Versa launch). Saturday was practice and qualifying, with a couple of races on Sunday. (They both run Spec Racer Fords, a class in which all of the cars are identical, which makes for some very competitive racing.) I didn't think I'd make their first race, until 6:00AM this morning when I was awakened by the logging train blowing his horn outside my window. So I crawled out of bed, into the shower and grabbed a bagel and off I went.
Picture post card weather provided the wonderful racing weather that everyone wishes that they had every time out. Met Marks mom. And his best friend since he was a kid. Mark made some beer brats for lunch. And then invited me over to his place for dinner, which he and the lovely Suzanne prepared together (isn't that sweet?). Also got to see the house that they'd just moved into a couple weeks ago in Southwest Portland. Beautiful mature backyard landscaping provided the perfect environment for a thoroughly enjoyable end to a very relaxing weekend on the road. Then I got to come back to my hotel where the upstairs neighbors have decided to continually re-arrange the furniture to be more accomodating to the herd of elephants that they brought with them. I could swear the sign said "No Pets"...
This weekend I couldn't make it home because of the long drive that I needed to make. Well... I could have, but I would have had to fly home Friday night, get home after everyone was asleep, and fly back on Saturday evening to make a 9 hour drive on Sunday. So I elected to not go home this weekend. But... I will be getting home on Tuesday, and will be home the rest of the week before I fly out on Sunday to resume my training. More about that another day.
Friday, after work I drove from the Sacramento area to Medford, Oregon. Then on Saturday drove from Medford to just south of Portland. If you've not driven in this part of the country, you really need to. The pine trees are so thick that they are layered in front of each other like sardines in a can. Except that they are much nicer to look at. And probably smell better too. San Diego weather may be among the most welcoming to guests, but the lack of rain doesn't let it approach the abundant conifer production of the great Northwest.
Had dinner with Mark on Saturday night. He's the guy that hires me for these programs. We determined that we've known each other about fifteen years. And we still speak to each other! In setting up the dinner engagement, I learned that Mark was racing this weekend at Portland International Raceway with his brother-in-law Todd (who I just worked with on the Nissan Versa launch). Saturday was practice and qualifying, with a couple of races on Sunday. (They both run Spec Racer Fords, a class in which all of the cars are identical, which makes for some very competitive racing.) I didn't think I'd make their first race, until 6:00AM this morning when I was awakened by the logging train blowing his horn outside my window. So I crawled out of bed, into the shower and grabbed a bagel and off I went.
Picture post card weather provided the wonderful racing weather that everyone wishes that they had every time out. Met Marks mom. And his best friend since he was a kid. Mark made some beer brats for lunch. And then invited me over to his place for dinner, which he and the lovely Suzanne prepared together (isn't that sweet?). Also got to see the house that they'd just moved into a couple weeks ago in Southwest Portland. Beautiful mature backyard landscaping provided the perfect environment for a thoroughly enjoyable end to a very relaxing weekend on the road. Then I got to come back to my hotel where the upstairs neighbors have decided to continually re-arrange the furniture to be more accomodating to the herd of elephants that they brought with them. I could swear the sign said "No Pets"...
Thursday, August 24, 2006
Computers!
Why is it that our entire lives seem to revolve around computers?
Theresa just received her new laptop, and overjoyed may not be too strong an adjective. But then, it took us a day or so (over the phone with both of us tired) to get it to be recognized by the wireless network at home. Now she is in the midst of trying to configure it so that it does things the way she wants it to. It could be days before she sees productivity.
My laptop won't boot, so I'm traveling computerless, and trying to find an access point wherever I can. (Brother can you spare a few bytes?)
Tuesday, I thought my hotel had a business center. No dice. Wednesday my hotel had a business center. They wanted sixty-nine cents a minute for internet access. (I don't know... I think $41 bucks and change is just a bit much to spend for an hour of internet happiness)
I finally got my wish tonight. Two computers in the business center. Unfortunately, one is almost exclusively taken by the teen daughter of one of the desk clerks. I could swear it said "Business Center" on the door. So I hop on between other actual hotel guests on the one available computer.
But... on to other matters.
In reading the paper the other day, I saw where a former NFL football player turned television analyst had given up his sportscasting job to pursue philanthropic goals. Laudable behaviour. And while never really comfortable with his decision to work in television, he had donated his entire salary to a foundation to help kids. When asked about the extent of the donation, he said something like "More than a car, but less than a house."
This got me thinking. (I think tangentially, as many of you know.) What kind of car? What kind of house? Where? How much did I pay for my first house? (Actually a 2 bedroom condo I bought with my first wife in '79.) (I don't know how many wives that I may ultimately have, so this will eliminate any confusion in the future regarding which wife I was referring to.) (Not that I'm thinking that I need another wife, or anything. My current wife is doing a splendid job of raising my children as I wander the globe, or at least the North American part of it.)
So, where was I? Oh yes... cars and houses. This is something I never expected to hear come out of my mouth. (Or in this case, out of my fingertips.) This is something that old people say. So, I guess, by definition, this makes me an old person. The car that I am currently driving cost more than my first house!
That's ridiculous, isn't it?
2007 Mercedes Benz GL450. MSRP $54,900, destination charge $775, with several thousand dollars worth of options. Total Price: $62,775.
1979 2 bedroom condo - used. I don't remember the exact price, but I think it may actually have been $54,900 also. No destination charge and no options. Total Price: $54,900. (Wait... houses aren't used are they. What are they? Existing? Yeah... I think that's it. I'm sure that's what I've seen... existing home sales.)
I don't know what's worse today. The price of new houses, or the price of new cars. They are both way more than they should be.
But speaking of Wednesday (which I was just a moment ago)... I had an opportunity to have dinner with Edwina and Mark on Wednesday evening. She had read my blog, and asked me to come over for meatloaf for dinner. She claimed that she didn't know that I liked meatloaf. I'm sure that it's come up in conversation, though. In fact, I don't know how it could not. "Man, it's been hot lately hasn't it? I don't know what's up with the weather, but it's crazy all over the country. That reminds me, I really like meatloaf, don't you?"
So I turn up at their house (a two bedroom condo in Walnut Creek that I'm sure costs more than $54,900) to a meatloaf in the oven. And after I changed into shorts and a t-shirt I was talking to Edwina as she pulled it out of the oven to baste it. I had never seen a meatloaf this large in my life! Seriously! It had to weigh ten pounds! It wouldn't fit into one of those wimpy little loaf pans. NNNooooooooo... It was baking on a cookie sheet. Edwina: "I was going to put Italian Sausage in it too, but I forgot to take it out"
What... it could have been bigger?!
When we dined, Mark sliced thick slabs from the Bunyanesque loaf (the only proper way to slice a meatloaf), although each weighed about a pound. We had to cut them in half prior to consumption, for our own well-being. Then, when I left she was trying to get me to take some with me. "Just take it and put it in a ziplock bag in your briefcase."
And you thought I was strange...
Theresa just received her new laptop, and overjoyed may not be too strong an adjective. But then, it took us a day or so (over the phone with both of us tired) to get it to be recognized by the wireless network at home. Now she is in the midst of trying to configure it so that it does things the way she wants it to. It could be days before she sees productivity.
My laptop won't boot, so I'm traveling computerless, and trying to find an access point wherever I can. (Brother can you spare a few bytes?)
Tuesday, I thought my hotel had a business center. No dice. Wednesday my hotel had a business center. They wanted sixty-nine cents a minute for internet access. (I don't know... I think $41 bucks and change is just a bit much to spend for an hour of internet happiness)
I finally got my wish tonight. Two computers in the business center. Unfortunately, one is almost exclusively taken by the teen daughter of one of the desk clerks. I could swear it said "Business Center" on the door. So I hop on between other actual hotel guests on the one available computer.
But... on to other matters.
In reading the paper the other day, I saw where a former NFL football player turned television analyst had given up his sportscasting job to pursue philanthropic goals. Laudable behaviour. And while never really comfortable with his decision to work in television, he had donated his entire salary to a foundation to help kids. When asked about the extent of the donation, he said something like "More than a car, but less than a house."
This got me thinking. (I think tangentially, as many of you know.) What kind of car? What kind of house? Where? How much did I pay for my first house? (Actually a 2 bedroom condo I bought with my first wife in '79.) (I don't know how many wives that I may ultimately have, so this will eliminate any confusion in the future regarding which wife I was referring to.) (Not that I'm thinking that I need another wife, or anything. My current wife is doing a splendid job of raising my children as I wander the globe, or at least the North American part of it.)
So, where was I? Oh yes... cars and houses. This is something I never expected to hear come out of my mouth. (Or in this case, out of my fingertips.) This is something that old people say. So, I guess, by definition, this makes me an old person. The car that I am currently driving cost more than my first house!
That's ridiculous, isn't it?
2007 Mercedes Benz GL450. MSRP $54,900, destination charge $775, with several thousand dollars worth of options. Total Price: $62,775.
1979 2 bedroom condo - used. I don't remember the exact price, but I think it may actually have been $54,900 also. No destination charge and no options. Total Price: $54,900. (Wait... houses aren't used are they. What are they? Existing? Yeah... I think that's it. I'm sure that's what I've seen... existing home sales.)
I don't know what's worse today. The price of new houses, or the price of new cars. They are both way more than they should be.
But speaking of Wednesday (which I was just a moment ago)... I had an opportunity to have dinner with Edwina and Mark on Wednesday evening. She had read my blog, and asked me to come over for meatloaf for dinner. She claimed that she didn't know that I liked meatloaf. I'm sure that it's come up in conversation, though. In fact, I don't know how it could not. "Man, it's been hot lately hasn't it? I don't know what's up with the weather, but it's crazy all over the country. That reminds me, I really like meatloaf, don't you?"
So I turn up at their house (a two bedroom condo in Walnut Creek that I'm sure costs more than $54,900) to a meatloaf in the oven. And after I changed into shorts and a t-shirt I was talking to Edwina as she pulled it out of the oven to baste it. I had never seen a meatloaf this large in my life! Seriously! It had to weigh ten pounds! It wouldn't fit into one of those wimpy little loaf pans. NNNooooooooo... It was baking on a cookie sheet. Edwina: "I was going to put Italian Sausage in it too, but I forgot to take it out"
What... it could have been bigger?!
When we dined, Mark sliced thick slabs from the Bunyanesque loaf (the only proper way to slice a meatloaf), although each weighed about a pound. We had to cut them in half prior to consumption, for our own well-being. Then, when I left she was trying to get me to take some with me. "Just take it and put it in a ziplock bag in your briefcase."
And you thought I was strange...
Monday, August 21, 2006
At least this time...
I told you I would be back Monday. And, lo and behold... here I am!
You know why I won't buy an SUV? Because when I went to fill up the Mercedes for the first time earlier this week, I couldn't. The pump wouldn't let me! ("What?" I hear you thinking, "is he talking about?") The pump stopped at $75.00. $75.00! And my tank still was not full! (More to follow, as you will see in a moment)
Anyway, when I got done with my training on Thursday, I set out for my hotel, which I had already programmed into the onboard navigation system. While driving from one city to the the next, I usually know generally where I want to be. That being said, I'm definitely a broad strokes kind of guy. I don't pay attention to the details. But when I kept driving, and driving, and driving some more, it occured to me that perhaps I should pull over and take a little closer look.
It seems, while conducting my afternoon training session, a sales consultant had reprogrammed my navigation unit. Taking me to a non-existent random location that was generally in the vicinity of where I needed to be. But that took me about six miles too far. In fact, I had driven past my hotel, which I saw, right beside the freeway. (And I thought to myself, as I drove past it, "I guess I'm not staying there 'cause they were sold out or something")(I had stayed there many times before)
But on Friday night, I got to drive home. I ended the week north of Los Angeles in the city of Valencia, which is about 150 miles from home. In good traffic, I can make it in just over two hours, as freeway provides the primary conduit. But by the time I could depart my afternoon venue, the clock said four. And it said eight when I got home. It was not good traffic. But I did get to see the kids before they went to bed, which is always a treat for me.
Saturday morning came with Noah having replaced Theresa next to me in bed. I have no recollection of anything happening in the dark of the night. Theresa, however, felt compelled to inform me that my sons are synchronized in many, many ways. One of which, apparently, includes their (ahem) elimination habits. Noah got up in the middle of the night and needed (read: wanted) his mom to help him. At the conclusion of his business, he crawled into bed next to me. Not fifteen minutes later, Grayson woke with the same need. And as Noah lie in Theresa's place in our bed, Theresa elected to replace Noah in their bed at the conclusion of Grayson's business. Ours is, indeed, an unusual home.
Oh. Before I forget, I'll give you a weekly mileage update. You may recall that when I picked up the GL, it had but 20 miles on the clock. As of Friday night, pulling up to the curb at home, the tally read 703. Not excessively high for the week.
Saturday night brought the final free concert at the park for us. We had plans to meet Ann and John with their daughter Catherine, and Emma and Elise with their French grandparents who speak very little English (long story) for the evening. San Diego provided its postcard-like weather, and an uber relaxing evening was enjoyed by all. (Typically, we arrive awash in alcohol. Not that we're lushes or anything... But we usually take some wine or beer, and Ann and John usually bring something, so there is generally an over-abundance. We all must have somehow been thinking along those lines, because this time we showed up with the lone bottle of wine. Although, I must say, we really needed no more, as the group of old-farts in front of us (this coming from someone over 50, so take that as you may) had consumed enough for everyone surrounding them. And they provided additional entertainment, as only gray haired line dancers can!
Sunday came all too quickly and I prepared to make the trek north. My goal had been to leave by noon, but you know nothing ever goes according to plan with three kids in the house. But I did make it out by one. But first I had to go the bank and deposit my check to keep the wolves away for yet another week. And replenish the petrol in the Mercedes, which has a highway rating of 18 MPG. And go by the post office to drop off the FedEx envelope so that it would go out on Monday. And drive back home to pick up something that I'd forgotten. But I eventually did make my way down the road.
This week I'm going to rack up just a few more miles. Because while I started the week in San Diego, I will end the week in Medford, Oregon. So, to start, when I got in last night, I had to fill the tank as I was on fumes after the drive up to Santa Clara (near San Jose) from San Diego. So, Sunday 1:06 PM: $73.78 to fill the tank. (At least it didn't run into a pump limit) Sunday (No time stamp, but roughly 9:00 PM) $83.51 (Smart gas station owners. Why limit the pump to $75 when there are so many SUV owners out there?) Sunday total fuel expense: $157.29. My odometer reading at the end of Sunday evening: 1171. (Yes... the company pays for the gas...)
As I prepared to drive away from my afternoon venue today, I programmed my hotel into the nav system. I chose not to follow this afternoons sales consultants suggestion, which would have taken me roughly 387 miles out of my way...
You know why I won't buy an SUV? Because when I went to fill up the Mercedes for the first time earlier this week, I couldn't. The pump wouldn't let me! ("What?" I hear you thinking, "is he talking about?") The pump stopped at $75.00. $75.00! And my tank still was not full! (More to follow, as you will see in a moment)
Anyway, when I got done with my training on Thursday, I set out for my hotel, which I had already programmed into the onboard navigation system. While driving from one city to the the next, I usually know generally where I want to be. That being said, I'm definitely a broad strokes kind of guy. I don't pay attention to the details. But when I kept driving, and driving, and driving some more, it occured to me that perhaps I should pull over and take a little closer look.
It seems, while conducting my afternoon training session, a sales consultant had reprogrammed my navigation unit. Taking me to a non-existent random location that was generally in the vicinity of where I needed to be. But that took me about six miles too far. In fact, I had driven past my hotel, which I saw, right beside the freeway. (And I thought to myself, as I drove past it, "I guess I'm not staying there 'cause they were sold out or something")(I had stayed there many times before)
But on Friday night, I got to drive home. I ended the week north of Los Angeles in the city of Valencia, which is about 150 miles from home. In good traffic, I can make it in just over two hours, as freeway provides the primary conduit. But by the time I could depart my afternoon venue, the clock said four. And it said eight when I got home. It was not good traffic. But I did get to see the kids before they went to bed, which is always a treat for me.
Saturday morning came with Noah having replaced Theresa next to me in bed. I have no recollection of anything happening in the dark of the night. Theresa, however, felt compelled to inform me that my sons are synchronized in many, many ways. One of which, apparently, includes their (ahem) elimination habits. Noah got up in the middle of the night and needed (read: wanted) his mom to help him. At the conclusion of his business, he crawled into bed next to me. Not fifteen minutes later, Grayson woke with the same need. And as Noah lie in Theresa's place in our bed, Theresa elected to replace Noah in their bed at the conclusion of Grayson's business. Ours is, indeed, an unusual home.
Oh. Before I forget, I'll give you a weekly mileage update. You may recall that when I picked up the GL, it had but 20 miles on the clock. As of Friday night, pulling up to the curb at home, the tally read 703. Not excessively high for the week.
Saturday night brought the final free concert at the park for us. We had plans to meet Ann and John with their daughter Catherine, and Emma and Elise with their French grandparents who speak very little English (long story) for the evening. San Diego provided its postcard-like weather, and an uber relaxing evening was enjoyed by all. (Typically, we arrive awash in alcohol. Not that we're lushes or anything... But we usually take some wine or beer, and Ann and John usually bring something, so there is generally an over-abundance. We all must have somehow been thinking along those lines, because this time we showed up with the lone bottle of wine. Although, I must say, we really needed no more, as the group of old-farts in front of us (this coming from someone over 50, so take that as you may) had consumed enough for everyone surrounding them. And they provided additional entertainment, as only gray haired line dancers can!
Sunday came all too quickly and I prepared to make the trek north. My goal had been to leave by noon, but you know nothing ever goes according to plan with three kids in the house. But I did make it out by one. But first I had to go the bank and deposit my check to keep the wolves away for yet another week. And replenish the petrol in the Mercedes, which has a highway rating of 18 MPG. And go by the post office to drop off the FedEx envelope so that it would go out on Monday. And drive back home to pick up something that I'd forgotten. But I eventually did make my way down the road.
This week I'm going to rack up just a few more miles. Because while I started the week in San Diego, I will end the week in Medford, Oregon. So, to start, when I got in last night, I had to fill the tank as I was on fumes after the drive up to Santa Clara (near San Jose) from San Diego. So, Sunday 1:06 PM: $73.78 to fill the tank. (At least it didn't run into a pump limit) Sunday (No time stamp, but roughly 9:00 PM) $83.51 (Smart gas station owners. Why limit the pump to $75 when there are so many SUV owners out there?) Sunday total fuel expense: $157.29. My odometer reading at the end of Sunday evening: 1171. (Yes... the company pays for the gas...)
As I prepared to drive away from my afternoon venue today, I programmed my hotel into the nav system. I chose not to follow this afternoons sales consultants suggestion, which would have taken me roughly 387 miles out of my way...
Thursday, August 17, 2006
No matter how hard I try...
I can't seem to update daily.
But this time it's not my fault. Really!
I get to my hotel room last night, and my laptop decides not to boot up. So I turn it off, and try it again. Nothing.
Actually, the night before it had acted up as well, but it booted and I was able to get some stuff done. Last night, nada. Tonight, nada. I'm online using one of the hotel's computers. I fear for my laptop. It seems to be hard drive related; never a good sign. Of course, it wasn't a good sign last weekend when I was home and I saw Noah starting to step on my closed laptop as he was getting down from the table. (I stopped him, but I have a feeling he may have actually stepped on it when he got up to the table)
So. I have a couple of days worth of stuff to catch you up. We'll skip the really boring stuff, and I'll just give you the boring stuff!
I think I'm coming down with a cold. Yesterday I was all stuffed up and had some post nasal drip by noon. (Doesn't that sound better than saying I had a runny nose?) So... so as not to be offputting to my afternoon group, I took some antihistamine. Which just about made me sleep through my afternoon group. So when I got back to my room, I nodded off. Theresa called me as I was dozing, so we talked a moment (although she knows that I don't really know what I'm doing or saying when in that state, so she hung up quickly.) I easily could have gone back to sleep, but I needed to get something to eat, so I went off in search of sustenance.
I was staying in Marina del Rey, a fairly posh beach neighborhood west of LA. Cruising, the marina I saw Edie's Diner, so I had to go in as it clashed with all of the froo-froo upscale restaurants. Totally 50's, down to the little juke box selector on the tables of each booth. It was difficult to choose between the meat loaf (a perennial favorite of mine) or the pot roast dinner. I opted for the roast. Very good, with outstanding fresh cauliflower, brocolli and carrots. Not overdone, which is very easy to do, and usually how they arrive in less attentive eateries. (I should say, I typically grab something fast-foodish and take it back to the room, but as I had no computer, I gave myself a nice dinner out.)
It also allowed my to go to bed early. Except I made the mistake of turning on the television to check the Padres score and it was tied 4-4 in the 9th (vs. the Giants.) So I kept cruising the channels and watching for updates. I finally decided to go to sleep while they were still tied in the 12th. (Giants ended up winning)
But even with that, I woke up before my alarm went off. So I guess I got a decent nights sleep.
Today, the highlight of my day was when Theresa called, only it wasn't Theresa. Wait. That didn't come out right. My phone said it was Theresa calling, but it was Mattea on the other end! I was pleasantly surprised, as Mattea rarely wishes to speak to me on the phone when I'm gone. And here she was calling me!
They were in the van on the way to Old McJunior (Actually Carl's Junior, but it's a long story. Maybe another time) to get some chicken stars and french fries. So we talked about her day, and then it came. "Are you going to bring me back anything from your trip?" Ahhhhhhh. The real reason behing her anxiousness to talk to me! Mattea knows that I will periodically bring something back for the kids. And as I didn't bring anything home last weekend, I guess she thought she'd prime the pump for this weekend. I said that I might, and asked if the boys wanted to talk to me. And they did! I talked to both Noah and Grayson! We talked about their day, and they told me what they were getting for dinner. And Grayson was quick to point out that he wasn't going to eat in the car. Then Grayson hung up.
When my phone rang again a moment later, I figured that it was Theresa just calling to finish up. But again, I was wrong. It was Mattea asking when I was going to go to the store - tonight or tomorrow. So how could I not pick something up. I went out and found a Fry's. Wandering around, I was surprised that they had a kids book section. So I got the kids a book about Millicent the plain caterpillar (or something like that).
Tomorrow, I'll be going home for the weekend. Actually, for Saturday and Sunday morning. I need to be in the Bay Area on Monday, so I'll need to leave around noonish on Sunday. Probably a little later than that. And if it's okay with you, I think I'll hold off on my blogging until Monday night. Tomorrow and over the weekend I'll be with the family, and I won't be getting in until late Sunday to my hotel. But I promise, I'll fill you in on all the good stuff. Until then...
But this time it's not my fault. Really!
I get to my hotel room last night, and my laptop decides not to boot up. So I turn it off, and try it again. Nothing.
Actually, the night before it had acted up as well, but it booted and I was able to get some stuff done. Last night, nada. Tonight, nada. I'm online using one of the hotel's computers. I fear for my laptop. It seems to be hard drive related; never a good sign. Of course, it wasn't a good sign last weekend when I was home and I saw Noah starting to step on my closed laptop as he was getting down from the table. (I stopped him, but I have a feeling he may have actually stepped on it when he got up to the table)
So. I have a couple of days worth of stuff to catch you up. We'll skip the really boring stuff, and I'll just give you the boring stuff!
I think I'm coming down with a cold. Yesterday I was all stuffed up and had some post nasal drip by noon. (Doesn't that sound better than saying I had a runny nose?) So... so as not to be offputting to my afternoon group, I took some antihistamine. Which just about made me sleep through my afternoon group. So when I got back to my room, I nodded off. Theresa called me as I was dozing, so we talked a moment (although she knows that I don't really know what I'm doing or saying when in that state, so she hung up quickly.) I easily could have gone back to sleep, but I needed to get something to eat, so I went off in search of sustenance.
I was staying in Marina del Rey, a fairly posh beach neighborhood west of LA. Cruising, the marina I saw Edie's Diner, so I had to go in as it clashed with all of the froo-froo upscale restaurants. Totally 50's, down to the little juke box selector on the tables of each booth. It was difficult to choose between the meat loaf (a perennial favorite of mine) or the pot roast dinner. I opted for the roast. Very good, with outstanding fresh cauliflower, brocolli and carrots. Not overdone, which is very easy to do, and usually how they arrive in less attentive eateries. (I should say, I typically grab something fast-foodish and take it back to the room, but as I had no computer, I gave myself a nice dinner out.)
It also allowed my to go to bed early. Except I made the mistake of turning on the television to check the Padres score and it was tied 4-4 in the 9th (vs. the Giants.) So I kept cruising the channels and watching for updates. I finally decided to go to sleep while they were still tied in the 12th. (Giants ended up winning)
But even with that, I woke up before my alarm went off. So I guess I got a decent nights sleep.
Today, the highlight of my day was when Theresa called, only it wasn't Theresa. Wait. That didn't come out right. My phone said it was Theresa calling, but it was Mattea on the other end! I was pleasantly surprised, as Mattea rarely wishes to speak to me on the phone when I'm gone. And here she was calling me!
They were in the van on the way to Old McJunior (Actually Carl's Junior, but it's a long story. Maybe another time) to get some chicken stars and french fries. So we talked about her day, and then it came. "Are you going to bring me back anything from your trip?" Ahhhhhhh. The real reason behing her anxiousness to talk to me! Mattea knows that I will periodically bring something back for the kids. And as I didn't bring anything home last weekend, I guess she thought she'd prime the pump for this weekend. I said that I might, and asked if the boys wanted to talk to me. And they did! I talked to both Noah and Grayson! We talked about their day, and they told me what they were getting for dinner. And Grayson was quick to point out that he wasn't going to eat in the car. Then Grayson hung up.
When my phone rang again a moment later, I figured that it was Theresa just calling to finish up. But again, I was wrong. It was Mattea asking when I was going to go to the store - tonight or tomorrow. So how could I not pick something up. I went out and found a Fry's. Wandering around, I was surprised that they had a kids book section. So I got the kids a book about Millicent the plain caterpillar (or something like that).
Tomorrow, I'll be going home for the weekend. Actually, for Saturday and Sunday morning. I need to be in the Bay Area on Monday, so I'll need to leave around noonish on Sunday. Probably a little later than that. And if it's okay with you, I think I'll hold off on my blogging until Monday night. Tomorrow and over the weekend I'll be with the family, and I won't be getting in until late Sunday to my hotel. But I promise, I'll fill you in on all the good stuff. Until then...
Tuesday, August 15, 2006
Travel Day
(PS: (usually comes at the end, unless you're me) I typed this up last night, but was unable to post due to losing my wireless connection)
Today was officially a travel day for me. That means I wasn't required to actually present my program to a dealer, I just needed to travel to the vicinity of the dealer to be able to make my presentations tomorrow. Well... today actually. Since it's around 1:00 AM on Tuesday morning.
I stayed home for many reasons, one of which was to take Grayson to the doctor's office, so Theresa wouldn't have to take more time off from work. He's been throwing up periodically, with no apparent reason. The doc thinks that it could just be constipation (which has been somewhat of an issue). We'll give hime the benefit of the doubt and see if that improves the situation.
Another reason was that I actually needed to finish preparing to make my presentations starting tomorrow (this morning). Our participant sales consultants use workbooks that we provide to them during the course of the training. So I like to place notes in a participant workbook, and use it in front of them. It encourages them to use their own workbooks. (I'd like to say that was my idea, but I "borrowed" it from another trainer years ago.) So I spent a good part of the day doing that, as well as researching the Mercedes. (It seems that it may have 2 reverse gears, which I find difficult to believe, so I am asking our technical guru to check it out more thoroughly.)
Then I wanted to help Theresa with the kids tonight, so I fed them while she worked. Then I realized that I had forgotten to pick up my slacks from the dry cleaners. And my other slacks are being FedEx'ed from my hotel in Seattle to the house. (You get the idea that I can't keep track of my pants?) So I had to go out and buy a cheap pair of slacks to get me through the week after the kids were fed.
Then I still had to pack, and gather materials together for my program, and eat something (I couldn't bring myself to go through a drive through with this car just yet. It only had 20 miles on the odometer when I picked it up. But I know that day is coming...) Then I had to drive 120 miles to my hotel. Which is why I didn't get checked in til after midnight. Then I had to iron my newly acquired slacks and a shirt for tomorrow. And update my blog.
I think I'm going to go to bed now, but I've got to check my email first to see if there is anything important I need to know before my first day of training. Wish me luck!
Today was officially a travel day for me. That means I wasn't required to actually present my program to a dealer, I just needed to travel to the vicinity of the dealer to be able to make my presentations tomorrow. Well... today actually. Since it's around 1:00 AM on Tuesday morning.
I stayed home for many reasons, one of which was to take Grayson to the doctor's office, so Theresa wouldn't have to take more time off from work. He's been throwing up periodically, with no apparent reason. The doc thinks that it could just be constipation (which has been somewhat of an issue). We'll give hime the benefit of the doubt and see if that improves the situation.
Another reason was that I actually needed to finish preparing to make my presentations starting tomorrow (this morning). Our participant sales consultants use workbooks that we provide to them during the course of the training. So I like to place notes in a participant workbook, and use it in front of them. It encourages them to use their own workbooks. (I'd like to say that was my idea, but I "borrowed" it from another trainer years ago.) So I spent a good part of the day doing that, as well as researching the Mercedes. (It seems that it may have 2 reverse gears, which I find difficult to believe, so I am asking our technical guru to check it out more thoroughly.)
Then I wanted to help Theresa with the kids tonight, so I fed them while she worked. Then I realized that I had forgotten to pick up my slacks from the dry cleaners. And my other slacks are being FedEx'ed from my hotel in Seattle to the house. (You get the idea that I can't keep track of my pants?) So I had to go out and buy a cheap pair of slacks to get me through the week after the kids were fed.
Then I still had to pack, and gather materials together for my program, and eat something (I couldn't bring myself to go through a drive through with this car just yet. It only had 20 miles on the odometer when I picked it up. But I know that day is coming...) Then I had to drive 120 miles to my hotel. Which is why I didn't get checked in til after midnight. Then I had to iron my newly acquired slacks and a shirt for tomorrow. And update my blog.
I think I'm going to go to bed now, but I've got to check my email first to see if there is anything important I need to know before my first day of training. Wish me luck!
Sunday, August 13, 2006
So how long do you want me to keep this up?
Sunday
I think I already mentioned that we slept in this morning. That was kind of nice.
As Theresa made breakfast, I was writing my last blog entry. Then we had a nice meal, and Edwina and Mark got ready to leave. We saw them off safely shortly after.
Mattea's friend Catherine had a birthday party today for her sixth birthday. For some reason known only to Ann and/or John (Catherine's parents), they decided to invite 25 kids to a bowling party and apparently all 25 accepted. (Plus assorted hangers-on like Noah and Grayson.) It was in a special darkened party bowling room with blacklights, disco lights, very loud music and who knows how many kids and adults running around. All of the kids seemed to enjoy it. Catherine's birthday cake was a rather odd concoction. It seemed to be a birthday cake, but then it turned in to cupcakes, grouped closely, and all joined together by an extremely generous layer of fluffy, whipped cream style frosting. Unusual. (Or maybe not. I don't go to many parties for six year olds.)
We came home and none of the kids wanted to nap, so they watched some television. I still had my program to prepare for (you remember the one... the reason I decided to blog daily for a month or so?) So I sequestered myself in my office to get some work done. Then Edwina called saying that there was a fire which shut down I-5, and after a series of phone calls we determined that they were going to spend the night not far from where they were turned back. So I was made travel agent, and found them shelter for the evening (Thank you Yahoo!Maps - a very handy resource if you ever need to travel much). Then I was actually able to get a little work done.
We got the exhausted kids to bed, and it was time for dinner. Watched a little TV, ate, and now we're off to bed.
You really want me to keep this up for a month?
I think I already mentioned that we slept in this morning. That was kind of nice.
As Theresa made breakfast, I was writing my last blog entry. Then we had a nice meal, and Edwina and Mark got ready to leave. We saw them off safely shortly after.
Mattea's friend Catherine had a birthday party today for her sixth birthday. For some reason known only to Ann and/or John (Catherine's parents), they decided to invite 25 kids to a bowling party and apparently all 25 accepted. (Plus assorted hangers-on like Noah and Grayson.) It was in a special darkened party bowling room with blacklights, disco lights, very loud music and who knows how many kids and adults running around. All of the kids seemed to enjoy it. Catherine's birthday cake was a rather odd concoction. It seemed to be a birthday cake, but then it turned in to cupcakes, grouped closely, and all joined together by an extremely generous layer of fluffy, whipped cream style frosting. Unusual. (Or maybe not. I don't go to many parties for six year olds.)
We came home and none of the kids wanted to nap, so they watched some television. I still had my program to prepare for (you remember the one... the reason I decided to blog daily for a month or so?) So I sequestered myself in my office to get some work done. Then Edwina called saying that there was a fire which shut down I-5, and after a series of phone calls we determined that they were going to spend the night not far from where they were turned back. So I was made travel agent, and found them shelter for the evening (Thank you Yahoo!Maps - a very handy resource if you ever need to travel much). Then I was actually able to get a little work done.
We got the exhausted kids to bed, and it was time for dinner. Watched a little TV, ate, and now we're off to bed.
You really want me to keep this up for a month?
It's Happened!
Already, only three days in, I missed a day of posting to my blog. I knew it would come eventually, but even I figured that I could go longer than that before I missed a day. Oh, well. I'll catch you up.
I just got out of bed about 8:30, so I'm writing while all of this is still fresh. There were five bodies in the bed that I got out of. I only remember going to bed with one beside me. Go figure. But let's start with yesterday.
I already forgot what time I woke up. I'm thinking that it was about 7:30 when Mattea crawled into bed next to me. Noah and Grayson had already joined Theresa on her side at some point during the night. I know for a fact that it was after 1:00 AM. Because I went to bed about 11:40. And Noah started to cry at 11:54. He does that instead of just getting up and going to the bathroom, which is what he really needs to do. But I guess he has to go so bad that it hurts, so he wakes up crying. So I got up and helped him go, and laid him back down on the floor where he was sleeping and went back to bed.
At 12:55, Grayson woke up crying and had to go to the bathroom. So I got up with him, took him to the bathroom, and place him next to his brother on the floor when he was done, and went back to bed.
We got up around 7:30 when Mattea joined us in bed, and Theresa took the kids downstairs so they could have breakfast. They enjoyed cereal or pasta, depending on their desire. And then we got ready for the last day of swim lessons at the local Y.
Mattea did wonderfully, and she has improved dramatically this year. We feel that a big part of her improvement stems from the fact that she goes to the pool once a week with ESS (Extended School Services? - her normal after school care at school, which is where she goes during the summer when Theresa goes to work). The boys don't much care for swimming lessons, and they don't want to get their hair wet. Although Noah blew bubbles today! He was very proud of himself.
Came home, and Theresa got Mattea ready for ballet lessons at 10:45. Auntie Sister and Mark are visiting for the weekend. Mark had gone to help his daughter move into her dorm, and Edwina and Noah went to ballet with Mattea and Theresa, so it was just Grayson and me at home.
I turned on the television for him, and I envisioned myself being able to get some stuff done when Grayson asked me to sit with him. Since I'm gone all week, I couldn't say no. So we watched Higgly Town Heroes and Little Einsteins. By then he was starting to yawn, so we lay down to take a nap around 11:00. We woke up at noon when Theresa got back. They lay down with us, but no one went to sleep after that, so we got up after awhile.
I really needed to fix the sprinklers, as the lawn was starting to turn brown, so I went outside to check out the damage. (You remember the flooding incident, right?) Fortunately, it was an easy fix. The guy that had installed the new sprinkler bank forgot to use pvc glue on one of the junctions, and it just took several weeks to work itself to the stage to blow apart. That guy would be me. So I glued the junction together and all should be right with the world. I have to still test it today.
Then it was time to go to the first Charger pre-season game of the season. Talk about your basic rip off. If you wish to buy season tickets, all pre-season (what used to be called scrimmages when I was in high school) are included. At full price.
Verb 1. scrimmage - practice playing (a sport)
practise, rehearse, practice - engage in a rehearsal (of)
Certainly these games could be categorized as scrimmages. Okay, so you are playing another team. IT DOESN'T COUNT! Worse yet, for the consumer, if you wish to buy a popular single game ticket (ie; Chargers vs. Raiders), you are required to buy a two or three game package, which includes a pre-season game AT FULL PRICE!
Anyway, the game started at eight, so we left at six to be there in plenty of time, and just get to enjoy some of the pre-game ambiance. Except that the game really started at seven, and we just barely made it to the stadium in time. (Just for the record, Theresa thought the game started at eight.) But we did get to watch Philip Rivers have a great first series scoring two touchdowns on his first drive. The first one was taken away by a receiver that didn't get his foot down in-bounds, so they came back with the same play and scored again. I thought that was a particularly gutsy move, but it worked. Overall, Rivers made a pretty strong debut, then turned it over in the second half to a guy named Feely who showed immediately why he was a backup quarterback. The game really did deteriorate into a scrimmage. We made it to the fourth quarter before calling it quits and heading home. But we still didn't get home until after 10:30, and I was too tired to blog, so that's why you didn't get my daily update until this morning.
But as long as I'm blogging, I'll give you last nights activity. We got home and I put Noah on the toilet, and he went, then I laid him back down on the floor. Tried the same thing with Grayson (who was sleeping in underwear for the first time in forever, because he is still having problems staying dry at night. But he had been dry three consecutive nights, which is the requirement to go into underwear in the Hernandez household) and he balked and said he didn't have to go, so I didn't force the issue. So I was up at 3:40 this morning changing a wet Grayson and blotting a soaked carpet.
Theresa, in her wisdom, thought of a novel way to keep the boys from rolling down the stairs while they are sleeping on the floor upstairs, which is where they have decided to sleep while Auntie Sister and Mark visit. We still have a body pillow from her pregnancy days, so she decided to lay it at the top of the stairs so that they would not roll down the stairs. I mention this now, because when I got up at 3:40 to change Grayson, Noah was sleeping on top of the body pillow at the top of the stairs. So had he decided to roll over in his sleep, he would have gone tumbling down said stairs. So I left him on the pillow, and just dragged it away from potential disaster. Perhaps we won't put the pillow there any longer.
I just got out of bed about 8:30, so I'm writing while all of this is still fresh. There were five bodies in the bed that I got out of. I only remember going to bed with one beside me. Go figure. But let's start with yesterday.
I already forgot what time I woke up. I'm thinking that it was about 7:30 when Mattea crawled into bed next to me. Noah and Grayson had already joined Theresa on her side at some point during the night. I know for a fact that it was after 1:00 AM. Because I went to bed about 11:40. And Noah started to cry at 11:54. He does that instead of just getting up and going to the bathroom, which is what he really needs to do. But I guess he has to go so bad that it hurts, so he wakes up crying. So I got up and helped him go, and laid him back down on the floor where he was sleeping and went back to bed.
At 12:55, Grayson woke up crying and had to go to the bathroom. So I got up with him, took him to the bathroom, and place him next to his brother on the floor when he was done, and went back to bed.
We got up around 7:30 when Mattea joined us in bed, and Theresa took the kids downstairs so they could have breakfast. They enjoyed cereal or pasta, depending on their desire. And then we got ready for the last day of swim lessons at the local Y.
Mattea did wonderfully, and she has improved dramatically this year. We feel that a big part of her improvement stems from the fact that she goes to the pool once a week with ESS (Extended School Services? - her normal after school care at school, which is where she goes during the summer when Theresa goes to work). The boys don't much care for swimming lessons, and they don't want to get their hair wet. Although Noah blew bubbles today! He was very proud of himself.
Came home, and Theresa got Mattea ready for ballet lessons at 10:45. Auntie Sister and Mark are visiting for the weekend. Mark had gone to help his daughter move into her dorm, and Edwina and Noah went to ballet with Mattea and Theresa, so it was just Grayson and me at home.
I turned on the television for him, and I envisioned myself being able to get some stuff done when Grayson asked me to sit with him. Since I'm gone all week, I couldn't say no. So we watched Higgly Town Heroes and Little Einsteins. By then he was starting to yawn, so we lay down to take a nap around 11:00. We woke up at noon when Theresa got back. They lay down with us, but no one went to sleep after that, so we got up after awhile.
I really needed to fix the sprinklers, as the lawn was starting to turn brown, so I went outside to check out the damage. (You remember the flooding incident, right?) Fortunately, it was an easy fix. The guy that had installed the new sprinkler bank forgot to use pvc glue on one of the junctions, and it just took several weeks to work itself to the stage to blow apart. That guy would be me. So I glued the junction together and all should be right with the world. I have to still test it today.
Then it was time to go to the first Charger pre-season game of the season. Talk about your basic rip off. If you wish to buy season tickets, all pre-season (what used to be called scrimmages when I was in high school) are included. At full price.
Verb 1. scrimmage - practice playing (a sport)
practise, rehearse, practice - engage in a rehearsal (of)
Certainly these games could be categorized as scrimmages. Okay, so you are playing another team. IT DOESN'T COUNT! Worse yet, for the consumer, if you wish to buy a popular single game ticket (ie; Chargers vs. Raiders), you are required to buy a two or three game package, which includes a pre-season game AT FULL PRICE!
Anyway, the game started at eight, so we left at six to be there in plenty of time, and just get to enjoy some of the pre-game ambiance. Except that the game really started at seven, and we just barely made it to the stadium in time. (Just for the record, Theresa thought the game started at eight.) But we did get to watch Philip Rivers have a great first series scoring two touchdowns on his first drive. The first one was taken away by a receiver that didn't get his foot down in-bounds, so they came back with the same play and scored again. I thought that was a particularly gutsy move, but it worked. Overall, Rivers made a pretty strong debut, then turned it over in the second half to a guy named Feely who showed immediately why he was a backup quarterback. The game really did deteriorate into a scrimmage. We made it to the fourth quarter before calling it quits and heading home. But we still didn't get home until after 10:30, and I was too tired to blog, so that's why you didn't get my daily update until this morning.
But as long as I'm blogging, I'll give you last nights activity. We got home and I put Noah on the toilet, and he went, then I laid him back down on the floor. Tried the same thing with Grayson (who was sleeping in underwear for the first time in forever, because he is still having problems staying dry at night. But he had been dry three consecutive nights, which is the requirement to go into underwear in the Hernandez household) and he balked and said he didn't have to go, so I didn't force the issue. So I was up at 3:40 this morning changing a wet Grayson and blotting a soaked carpet.
Theresa, in her wisdom, thought of a novel way to keep the boys from rolling down the stairs while they are sleeping on the floor upstairs, which is where they have decided to sleep while Auntie Sister and Mark visit. We still have a body pillow from her pregnancy days, so she decided to lay it at the top of the stairs so that they would not roll down the stairs. I mention this now, because when I got up at 3:40 to change Grayson, Noah was sleeping on top of the body pillow at the top of the stairs. So had he decided to roll over in his sleep, he would have gone tumbling down said stairs. So I left him on the pillow, and just dragged it away from potential disaster. Perhaps we won't put the pillow there any longer.
Friday, August 11, 2006
T3 - Train The Trainer
That's what today's activity is called. Pretty descriptive, no?
Whenever we (guys like me, although, there are a few women who do this) are hired, we need to be trained about what we are going to teach others. So we are gathered together from all parts of the country, and in fact the world, as some of the trainers hail from Great Britain, Canada, and occasionally other countries. And we "learn the program".
This particular program is a 90 minute presentation, made primarily to Infiniti sales consultants, although periodically a manager or two will sit in as well. I started to tell you about it, when I was so rudely interrupted by arrests made halfway around the world. We will be comparing the new Mercedes GL450 full size sport utility vehicle to the Infiniti QX56 full size sport utility vehicle. While the QX56 has been around for a couple of years, the GL450 is a brand new vehicle for Mercedes, so Infiniti wants to educate their sales consultants about the capabilities of the competition.
We spend the day seeing the program modeled (someone else presents the training as we are to present it). We watch it and participate as our sales consultants would. This is actually quite helpful, as we get to see it from the "other side". In this case, that only takes 90 minutes. Then we review the content and look for problem areas that may occur. Then we research the vehicles to look for the questions that will occur that are not incorporated in the training agenda. There are always questions. Then we go our merry way, and have the weekend to let it sink in, practice it... whatever it is that we do to learn the program.
As there are too many Infiniti dealerships for one person to train in a reasonable time, the country is divided into six territories, and six teams each travel within their assigned territory, training the staff of those dealerships within their scope. In this case, each team consists of one person. Sometimes the teams consist of two or three people.
Since the sales consultants are already (or should be) familiar with their own product, we bring them the competitive product. In this case, the GL450. Since there are 6 teams, 6 GL450's need to be purchased for the program. Since I will be starting in the greater Los Angeles area, and the training was held at Nissan headquarters in the Los Angeles area, my assigned vehicle was one of the vehicles used in the training today. So I drove home in a 2007 Mercedes GL450 that had 20 miles on the odometer when I drove it away. The base price on this particular black GL450 is $54,900. Once the destination charge and options were added, the total retail price, as it says on the window sticker, is $62,775. I don't think that we'll be buying one anytime soon.
Whenever we (guys like me, although, there are a few women who do this) are hired, we need to be trained about what we are going to teach others. So we are gathered together from all parts of the country, and in fact the world, as some of the trainers hail from Great Britain, Canada, and occasionally other countries. And we "learn the program".
This particular program is a 90 minute presentation, made primarily to Infiniti sales consultants, although periodically a manager or two will sit in as well. I started to tell you about it, when I was so rudely interrupted by arrests made halfway around the world. We will be comparing the new Mercedes GL450 full size sport utility vehicle to the Infiniti QX56 full size sport utility vehicle. While the QX56 has been around for a couple of years, the GL450 is a brand new vehicle for Mercedes, so Infiniti wants to educate their sales consultants about the capabilities of the competition.
We spend the day seeing the program modeled (someone else presents the training as we are to present it). We watch it and participate as our sales consultants would. This is actually quite helpful, as we get to see it from the "other side". In this case, that only takes 90 minutes. Then we review the content and look for problem areas that may occur. Then we research the vehicles to look for the questions that will occur that are not incorporated in the training agenda. There are always questions. Then we go our merry way, and have the weekend to let it sink in, practice it... whatever it is that we do to learn the program.
As there are too many Infiniti dealerships for one person to train in a reasonable time, the country is divided into six territories, and six teams each travel within their assigned territory, training the staff of those dealerships within their scope. In this case, each team consists of one person. Sometimes the teams consist of two or three people.
Since the sales consultants are already (or should be) familiar with their own product, we bring them the competitive product. In this case, the GL450. Since there are 6 teams, 6 GL450's need to be purchased for the program. Since I will be starting in the greater Los Angeles area, and the training was held at Nissan headquarters in the Los Angeles area, my assigned vehicle was one of the vehicles used in the training today. So I drove home in a 2007 Mercedes GL450 that had 20 miles on the odometer when I drove it away. The base price on this particular black GL450 is $54,900. Once the destination charge and options were added, the total retail price, as it says on the window sticker, is $62,775. I don't think that we'll be buying one anytime soon.
Thursday, August 10, 2006
And so it begins...
My flight was scheduled for a 12:34 PM departure. Terrorists were arrested in London, so the entire world of airport security responded.
Arriving over two hours early for my flight was not enough. I missed my flight by about 5 minutes. When in situations such as these, one can take a lesson from the martial arts - specifically Judo: "a primary principal of judo is that of taking of advantage of aggressive force by giving way rather than resisting it". It does no good to get angry or upset. These feelings only create negativity. So I just rolled with the punches, so to speak.
I was able to make the next flight, which was due to leave about an hour later, and which only left slightly late. Interestingly enough, the flight attendant was offering complementary cocktails, even though the flight was only a few minutes late. I think they felt sorry for all of us stuck in the long security lines. I chose to pass on the cocktails, since I had a six o'clock meeting when I eventually did get to LA.
On the flight down, I was using my laptop for some research and closed it for a minute while I got something out of my briefcase. When I opened up my laptop, it froze, and I couldn't get it to fire up again. Turn it off, turn in on... no Windows. And I couldn't hit the tiny little reset button, because I had no paper clip in my briefcase.
So we landed, and I found my rollaboard, which I had checked because I didn't want to have to throw away all of my toothpaste, shampoo, etc. Interestingly enough, my bag was already here. I say that, because the flight that I thought that I had missed, was cancelled due to "Passenger action", whatever that means. So I guess they just loaded up everyone's luggage that had already been checked, and sent it on down anyway, sans owner.
Anyway, I made it to the hotel with about 10 minutes to spare for my meeting. That lasted about an hour, then a few of us went out to get some dinner. I got back to my room at about 9:30 or so. Theresa had called while I was at dinner, so I called her back and we talked for a bit. Actually, we had talked a little earlier in the day (I forget exactly where I was), when she was ordering her new laptop. We wanted to make sure it was properly configured.
So... now it's 11:41, and I still have some reading to do for my training session tomorrow. Welcome to my world!
Oh... and the slacks that I'm supposed to wear tomorrow? They're still hanging in my hotel room in Seattle.
Arriving over two hours early for my flight was not enough. I missed my flight by about 5 minutes. When in situations such as these, one can take a lesson from the martial arts - specifically Judo: "a primary principal of judo is that of taking of advantage of aggressive force by giving way rather than resisting it". It does no good to get angry or upset. These feelings only create negativity. So I just rolled with the punches, so to speak.
I was able to make the next flight, which was due to leave about an hour later, and which only left slightly late. Interestingly enough, the flight attendant was offering complementary cocktails, even though the flight was only a few minutes late. I think they felt sorry for all of us stuck in the long security lines. I chose to pass on the cocktails, since I had a six o'clock meeting when I eventually did get to LA.
On the flight down, I was using my laptop for some research and closed it for a minute while I got something out of my briefcase. When I opened up my laptop, it froze, and I couldn't get it to fire up again. Turn it off, turn in on... no Windows. And I couldn't hit the tiny little reset button, because I had no paper clip in my briefcase.
So we landed, and I found my rollaboard, which I had checked because I didn't want to have to throw away all of my toothpaste, shampoo, etc. Interestingly enough, my bag was already here. I say that, because the flight that I thought that I had missed, was cancelled due to "Passenger action", whatever that means. So I guess they just loaded up everyone's luggage that had already been checked, and sent it on down anyway, sans owner.
Anyway, I made it to the hotel with about 10 minutes to spare for my meeting. That lasted about an hour, then a few of us went out to get some dinner. I got back to my room at about 9:30 or so. Theresa had called while I was at dinner, so I called her back and we talked for a bit. Actually, we had talked a little earlier in the day (I forget exactly where I was), when she was ordering her new laptop. We wanted to make sure it was properly configured.
So... now it's 11:41, and I still have some reading to do for my training session tomorrow. Welcome to my world!
Oh... and the slacks that I'm supposed to wear tomorrow? They're still hanging in my hotel room in Seattle.
Be Prepared!
Not only is that the Boy Scout motto. It is also a warning to you. I am going to attempt to blog daily for the duration of my next program, which starts today, and ends on September 8th.
"Why?" I hear you asking of yourselves. You realize, of course, that you can't answer, because you don't know why. "Why, does he do these things to us?" Because he can, would be the glib answer. The somewhat more correct answer would be to document an entire program (albeit a short one), so that my family (along with whoever else might read this), will have some understanding of what it is that I do for a living.
I'm am choosing this particular program for a couple of reasons. It is short. Some of my training programs are six to eight weeks long. I don't think that I could torture myself (or you, dear reader) for that long. This one is less than four. Also, my actual time in each dealership is somewhat reduced from a typical training program, because of the content, which will actually give me some time to write.
Speaking of which, I suppose I should tell you a little bit about the program. I will be comparing the Mercedes GL450 sport utility vehicle to the Infiniti QX56 for Infiniti. To do this, I will fly to Los Angeles later today from Seattle (which is where I handed off my current program of training Nissan sales consultants about the Versa and how it compares to the Toyota Yaris and Honda Fit (very favorably, I might add). For those of you who may have missed a post or two, that program started on June 22, when I flew to LA for training on that session. Since that program does not end until next week, I had to hand it over to someone else to finish. I was able to do this only because I have a good relationship with Mark, the guy that hires me for these programs, and he took pity on my and moved me from the Versa program to the QX56 program so I could get a couple extra weeks of work.)
I have to go now. I just got a phone call from Todd, one of the guys that I've been working with on the Versa training. He said that there was a potential terrorist attack thwarted in London this morning, and that all US airports security measures were being raised. It is currently 8:10 AM, and my flight doesn't leave until 12:36 PM, but I have a feeling that a good part of my morning will be spent waiting in lines. Fortunately, most of my time will be driving not flying over the next several weeks. More later...
"Why?" I hear you asking of yourselves. You realize, of course, that you can't answer, because you don't know why. "Why, does he do these things to us?" Because he can, would be the glib answer. The somewhat more correct answer would be to document an entire program (albeit a short one), so that my family (along with whoever else might read this), will have some understanding of what it is that I do for a living.
I'm am choosing this particular program for a couple of reasons. It is short. Some of my training programs are six to eight weeks long. I don't think that I could torture myself (or you, dear reader) for that long. This one is less than four. Also, my actual time in each dealership is somewhat reduced from a typical training program, because of the content, which will actually give me some time to write.
Speaking of which, I suppose I should tell you a little bit about the program. I will be comparing the Mercedes GL450 sport utility vehicle to the Infiniti QX56 for Infiniti. To do this, I will fly to Los Angeles later today from Seattle (which is where I handed off my current program of training Nissan sales consultants about the Versa and how it compares to the Toyota Yaris and Honda Fit (very favorably, I might add). For those of you who may have missed a post or two, that program started on June 22, when I flew to LA for training on that session. Since that program does not end until next week, I had to hand it over to someone else to finish. I was able to do this only because I have a good relationship with Mark, the guy that hires me for these programs, and he took pity on my and moved me from the Versa program to the QX56 program so I could get a couple extra weeks of work.)
I have to go now. I just got a phone call from Todd, one of the guys that I've been working with on the Versa training. He said that there was a potential terrorist attack thwarted in London this morning, and that all US airports security measures were being raised. It is currently 8:10 AM, and my flight doesn't leave until 12:36 PM, but I have a feeling that a good part of my morning will be spent waiting in lines. Fortunately, most of my time will be driving not flying over the next several weeks. More later...
Sunday, August 06, 2006
Bonus!
42 hours.
That's about how long I got to spend at home this past weekend! (Usually it's only about 34 or 36) Of course, about 15 of those were sleeping.
But, I only had one training session on Friday morning, so I got to head home early Friday afternoon. Flying in from Portland, I got in and Theresa picked me up in the airport in her dad's recently acquired BMW Z3, which Theresa was car sitting. It had been sitting in the driveway all week, and she was sorely looking for an excuse to drive it. Her boss had given her tickets to the Padres game (we lost to the Washington Nationals, but they were nice seats (any free seats are nice, don't you think?)) We had a great opportunity to spend some time, just the two of us for a change, taking in America's game, on a beautiful San Diego evening. The outrageous heat wave had passed, and it was an absolutely gorgeous, "convention and visitor's bureau" way to end the week.
And then came Saturday morning. Swimming lessons at 9 (Mattea is getting really comfortable in the water, and I feel confident letting her "swim" on her own now, while the boys want nothing to do with anything involving getting their hair wet). Ballet lessons at 11. (The boys will be starting next month) Naps for the boys (Theresa joined them and slept longer than they did... I'm not really sure why!)
I took the kids to the grocery store after everyone woke up, and they all thought it was great fun. The boys wanted to walk, so I pushed the cart while behind me trailed three golden haired munchkins linked hand-in-hand drawing smiles from most passers-by. (A dad with one child commented "I thought I had it tough!")
When I got back, Theresa was getting ready for an evening out with her sisters. Later we discovered that they hadn't been out together, just the three of them, for about 5 years. This from three sisters that live within the same county! But they went out to dinner and took in a play about three sisters (the impetus for the evening.)
Then Sunday morning we got the kids fed, I did my laundry, packed, mowed the lawn, didn't repair the sprinklers that had caused the flood the week before, and drove the BMW back to Jim, who let me drive to the airport. (He used the excuse that he wanted to ride in the passengers seat, to see what it felt like.)
Now you know what my weekends at home are like. Generally minus the ballgame.
That's about how long I got to spend at home this past weekend! (Usually it's only about 34 or 36) Of course, about 15 of those were sleeping.
But, I only had one training session on Friday morning, so I got to head home early Friday afternoon. Flying in from Portland, I got in and Theresa picked me up in the airport in her dad's recently acquired BMW Z3, which Theresa was car sitting. It had been sitting in the driveway all week, and she was sorely looking for an excuse to drive it. Her boss had given her tickets to the Padres game (we lost to the Washington Nationals, but they were nice seats (any free seats are nice, don't you think?)) We had a great opportunity to spend some time, just the two of us for a change, taking in America's game, on a beautiful San Diego evening. The outrageous heat wave had passed, and it was an absolutely gorgeous, "convention and visitor's bureau" way to end the week.
And then came Saturday morning. Swimming lessons at 9 (Mattea is getting really comfortable in the water, and I feel confident letting her "swim" on her own now, while the boys want nothing to do with anything involving getting their hair wet). Ballet lessons at 11. (The boys will be starting next month) Naps for the boys (Theresa joined them and slept longer than they did... I'm not really sure why!)
I took the kids to the grocery store after everyone woke up, and they all thought it was great fun. The boys wanted to walk, so I pushed the cart while behind me trailed three golden haired munchkins linked hand-in-hand drawing smiles from most passers-by. (A dad with one child commented "I thought I had it tough!")
When I got back, Theresa was getting ready for an evening out with her sisters. Later we discovered that they hadn't been out together, just the three of them, for about 5 years. This from three sisters that live within the same county! But they went out to dinner and took in a play about three sisters (the impetus for the evening.)
Then Sunday morning we got the kids fed, I did my laundry, packed, mowed the lawn, didn't repair the sprinklers that had caused the flood the week before, and drove the BMW back to Jim, who let me drive to the airport. (He used the excuse that he wanted to ride in the passengers seat, to see what it felt like.)
Now you know what my weekends at home are like. Generally minus the ballgame.
Wednesday, August 02, 2006
June 10th!
June 10th was the last time that I updated this thing? Someone should tell me these things! Today is what... August 2? I think that is waaaaaay too long, don't you? (Of course you do. That's why you're reading this now, right?)
There has just been way too much to write about since then. My first idea near the beginning of July was to write about what I did on my summer vacation. My summer vacation was the 4th of July weekend. We did stuff, but I don't really remember what we did now. I'm sure we had fun. (Don't you love it when I don't get all caught up in the details. Things just go so much faster.)
One of the reasons that I haven't written anything, is that I have been extremely busy lately. I started another project the last weekend in June. The national launch training program for the new Nissan Versa subcompact. When I train, I travel. Said travel with this particular program has already taken me from LA (for training) to Bakersfield, CA (first training city), through central California, over to Reno, up to Bend, OR, continuing up the state to the Portland area, where I am now. I'll be up in the Seattle area by this time next week. Then I have to leave this program prior to its' conclusion, to start on another program comparing the new Mercedes GL450 to the Infiniti QX56 full-size SUB. Oh, did I mention that I'm driving all of this way? So basically, LA to Seattle, driving a small car (with two other guys in two other small cars, the Honda Fit and Toyota Yaris for comparison purposes) in about 6 weeks. Oh, and did I mention that I fly home every weekend from wherever I happen to be, so I can actually spend time with my family? Finish training at 5 or so on Friday, drive to a nearby (or not) airport, get home after everyone's in bed, spend a day and a half at home, and back to the airport on Sunday afternoon to fly back to wherever I flew out of to drive to another city to start work on Monday again. Oh, did I mention that the Infiniti/Mercedes program will have me going from LA to Seattle, to Utah, then to Las Vegas in three weeks? (At least for that one I'll be driving the Mercedes!)The glamorous world of business travel. And I still need to squeeze in flying home on the weekends between all of that driving for the Infiniti program.
Fine you say. So update your blog in the evenings when you're just hanging out in your hotel room, you say. Would that be before, or after, booking hotel reservations for every night of the travel mentioned above, for me and my two traveling partners. And it would definitely be after checking in on NDISB stuff to make sure nothing has blown up during the day. Then I have to check the NDISB forum and delete the spam posters who are joining the forum to link to some website that has nothing to do with scrapbooking. And naturally, I have to read the forums to see what's going on, and drop in a post or two of my own if needed just to keep things interesting. I suppose that I could do it before programming my Palm/Garmin based navigation system with the next days' dealerships and hotel so I know where I'm going. But usually I just crawl into my bed around midnight, so I can get up and do it all again the next day. (Thank goodness that Hampton Inn has instituted a nationwide rollout of actually putting comfortable beds in their hotel rooms (Imagine That!)) Unfortunately, there aren't a lot of Hampton Inns near where I need to stay. I'm rreally hoping that Holiday Inn Express (which is everywhere) picks up on that and encourages their franchisees to do something similar. So far, all they have is shower heads and new sheets. Seriously, they are so proud of their new sheets, that they are plastered all over their home page.
Anyway... the real reason that I wanted to post anything this evening is to tell you that I am sooooooooo proud of Theresa!
First, I am absolutely blown away by her devotion to her scrapbooking business, Natural Designs in Scrapbooking (which you can find at www.ndisb.com). She truly and consistently puts this pompous and meandering blowhard to shame. She gets up early with her kids, immediately starts working on NDISB stuff, gets the kids fed and dressed and off to school, goes to her "real job", and then reverses all of that at the end of the day. Seriously, she is on her laptop for hours a day at home before and after going to "work". She's working two forty hour a week jobs, plus raising a family in my absence, and I come home on the weekends and throw a monkey wrench into her perfectly organized chaos!
But what just about brought tears to my eyes was her selection as the Featured Designer at A Cherry on Top (http://www.acherryontop.com/)for the month of August. After I read about Theresa, I scrolled down and saw that the ACOT Creative Team used her featured kit to create some layouts. And just seeing so many women using her designs to make memories of their own really struck me in a way that hadn't happened before. I don't know why, because I've seen her kits used in lots of layouts before. I guess sometimes you can't really account for why you feel the way that you do. I just know that I am incredibly proud of Theresa, and just totally, totally amazed at her untiring dedication to her customers and team of designers and creative team members that she has working with her on the site.
Theresa knows all of these things. I tell her all the time. But you don't know that's how I feel. I should say that you didn't. Now you do.
Theresa... you are an inspiration to me, and as glowing an example as could exist for our children. (Even when you're yelling at them because they're fighting over who's going to pee first!) I love you deeply.
There has just been way too much to write about since then. My first idea near the beginning of July was to write about what I did on my summer vacation. My summer vacation was the 4th of July weekend. We did stuff, but I don't really remember what we did now. I'm sure we had fun. (Don't you love it when I don't get all caught up in the details. Things just go so much faster.)
One of the reasons that I haven't written anything, is that I have been extremely busy lately. I started another project the last weekend in June. The national launch training program for the new Nissan Versa subcompact. When I train, I travel. Said travel with this particular program has already taken me from LA (for training) to Bakersfield, CA (first training city), through central California, over to Reno, up to Bend, OR, continuing up the state to the Portland area, where I am now. I'll be up in the Seattle area by this time next week. Then I have to leave this program prior to its' conclusion, to start on another program comparing the new Mercedes GL450 to the Infiniti QX56 full-size SUB. Oh, did I mention that I'm driving all of this way? So basically, LA to Seattle, driving a small car (with two other guys in two other small cars, the Honda Fit and Toyota Yaris for comparison purposes) in about 6 weeks. Oh, and did I mention that I fly home every weekend from wherever I happen to be, so I can actually spend time with my family? Finish training at 5 or so on Friday, drive to a nearby (or not) airport, get home after everyone's in bed, spend a day and a half at home, and back to the airport on Sunday afternoon to fly back to wherever I flew out of to drive to another city to start work on Monday again. Oh, did I mention that the Infiniti/Mercedes program will have me going from LA to Seattle, to Utah, then to Las Vegas in three weeks? (At least for that one I'll be driving the Mercedes!)The glamorous world of business travel. And I still need to squeeze in flying home on the weekends between all of that driving for the Infiniti program.
Fine you say. So update your blog in the evenings when you're just hanging out in your hotel room, you say. Would that be before, or after, booking hotel reservations for every night of the travel mentioned above, for me and my two traveling partners. And it would definitely be after checking in on NDISB stuff to make sure nothing has blown up during the day. Then I have to check the NDISB forum and delete the spam posters who are joining the forum to link to some website that has nothing to do with scrapbooking. And naturally, I have to read the forums to see what's going on, and drop in a post or two of my own if needed just to keep things interesting. I suppose that I could do it before programming my Palm/Garmin based navigation system with the next days' dealerships and hotel so I know where I'm going. But usually I just crawl into my bed around midnight, so I can get up and do it all again the next day. (Thank goodness that Hampton Inn has instituted a nationwide rollout of actually putting comfortable beds in their hotel rooms (Imagine That!)) Unfortunately, there aren't a lot of Hampton Inns near where I need to stay. I'm rreally hoping that Holiday Inn Express (which is everywhere) picks up on that and encourages their franchisees to do something similar. So far, all they have is shower heads and new sheets. Seriously, they are so proud of their new sheets, that they are plastered all over their home page.
Anyway... the real reason that I wanted to post anything this evening is to tell you that I am sooooooooo proud of Theresa!
First, I am absolutely blown away by her devotion to her scrapbooking business, Natural Designs in Scrapbooking (which you can find at www.ndisb.com). She truly and consistently puts this pompous and meandering blowhard to shame. She gets up early with her kids, immediately starts working on NDISB stuff, gets the kids fed and dressed and off to school, goes to her "real job", and then reverses all of that at the end of the day. Seriously, she is on her laptop for hours a day at home before and after going to "work". She's working two forty hour a week jobs, plus raising a family in my absence, and I come home on the weekends and throw a monkey wrench into her perfectly organized chaos!
But what just about brought tears to my eyes was her selection as the Featured Designer at A Cherry on Top (http://www.acherryontop.com/)for the month of August. After I read about Theresa, I scrolled down and saw that the ACOT Creative Team used her featured kit to create some layouts. And just seeing so many women using her designs to make memories of their own really struck me in a way that hadn't happened before. I don't know why, because I've seen her kits used in lots of layouts before. I guess sometimes you can't really account for why you feel the way that you do. I just know that I am incredibly proud of Theresa, and just totally, totally amazed at her untiring dedication to her customers and team of designers and creative team members that she has working with her on the site.
Theresa knows all of these things. I tell her all the time. But you don't know that's how I feel. I should say that you didn't. Now you do.
Theresa... you are an inspiration to me, and as glowing an example as could exist for our children. (Even when you're yelling at them because they're fighting over who's going to pee first!) I love you deeply.
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